


Girls are (not) pretty when they cry

by toxicbolts



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Background Relationships, F/F, Guilt, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 22:37:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15180863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicbolts/pseuds/toxicbolts
Summary: Pretty girls are Shelly's weakness.





	Girls are (not) pretty when they cry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gghero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gghero/gifts).



> Happy birthday @gghero you fucker!!!!

Shelly likes being present during Archie’s meetings, no matter the place, time, or listener. It’s like a rule of thumb, not leaving him alone, even less when Archie’s feelings may end up betraying his judgement. Luckily for everyone, Shelly can take a hint, and she knows when Archie wants to be alone with his lifelong rival, old friend, and (fucking finally) lover, so she rolls her eyes and bids them farewell.

It’s not that she is fond of walking around Team Magma’s base, even if now they’re on friendly terms. It’s hot, molten lava no matter where she looks. She thinks about texting Matt, but he is probably not so subtly flirting with Maxie’s right hand man, Tabitha, while Tabitha pretends not to be interested because of some kind of misplaced pride.

She loves her silly guys, really, both of them are like brothers to her, but both them and their suitors are freaking dumbasses, and she is definitely not dealing with that.

Thank Arceus that she is a lesbian.

In the end, she decides that there is no point in wandering around the base, lots of grunts looking at her with curiosity. She is Archie’s right hand woman, and attractive as hell (that’s not her being full of herself, it’s an undeniable fact), of course they are all curious. She would love the attention in a different moment and place, but it’s exhausting to deal with at the moment. So in the end, she exists the base, dying to get to look at the sea for a while; tired of lava, nerds, and men being stupid around their love interests.

The sun feels nice against her face, and she can smell the sea, embracing her soul like she’s finally home. A little someone catches her attention, though. A woman dressed in mostly red stands out in the middle of the shore.

She recognizes her. That’s Courtney, Team Magma’s other admin. A cutie, if she’s honest with herself. She is known for being cold, methodical, and analytical, but that’s not what Shelly is seeing, at all. Courtney is crying, loudly, thinking she is alone, and Shelly wants to help, really wants to, but knows she was not supposed to see that. That she is interrupting a very intimate and delicate moment.

But it’s way too late, because Courtney has already seen her, eyes reddened with tears, nose running, body shaking a little.

And it’s almost astounding, how she methodically blows her nose, breathes in and out, many times, as if she was trained for it, until the shaking is gone. Nothing can be done about red, wet eyes, but Courtney is still trying to keep a professional façade.

“Greetings.” Courtney says, as if she was not bawling her eyes out ten seconds earlier, and Shelly sighs, because she knows how strict Team Magma is about professionality. Maxie himself is a time bomb disguised as a stoic nerd, so of course every single of his subordinates, who look up to him like a father, would try to imitate him. Not that everyone in Team Aqua doesn’t want to imitate Archie, too. Everyone admires him like he is a living anchor for their dreams. Not that it matters anymore, since finding Kyogre is a dream that all of them have buried, after what happened with Groudon.

The lesson would be not to mess with ancient gods, or with forces you cannot control, in general. They were all frankly stupid, so it’s not as if she could blame Team Magma, either.

“Hi.” 

Shelly feels tense, not really knowing what to say. She’s usually so good at dealing with other people’s problems, but how is she supposed to deal with a girl she doesn’t really know that well, that is immensely cute, and that was from the enemy team until some weeks ago?

She heard once that girls are the cutest when they are crying. That’s misogynistic bullshit. And no matter how cute Courtney is, she would rather see her smiling.

“Come here often?” Shelly asks, and immediately wants to punch herself. Of course she does, you moron. This is her base and practically her home. But Courtney smiles a little, her lips still trembling a little, and Arceus be damned, that’s better..

“I appreciate your efforts to cheer me up.”

“Was it a success?”

“My mood has improved a thirty per cent.”

Well, that’s something. Shelly wishes it was that easy to quantify emotions, but Courtney makes it look like it’s something measurable.

“Wanna talk about it? Sometimes, letting it out helps a lot.”

“Team Aqua Admin Shelly.” Courtney pronounces, her sweet voice still way more monotonous than Shelly is used to. “We were enemies until not too long ago. Why do you care?”

Shelly shrugs, and smiles at her, trying to make her feel more at ease.

“That’s water under the bridge now. There is no time for grudges, don’t you think?”

That seems to hit a nerve, because Courtney stops looking at her, completely. She doesn’t look like the kind of person that looks at people in the eye, but now she seems to be too overwhelmed to even look anywhere near her.

“I… I think so.”

Courtney sighs, playing with her lilac hair a little, as if carefully choosing her words.

“I… was pondering about what I did to our leader, the Great Maxie, and Team Magma in general. About… my past mistakes.”

Shelly knows what happened. She had a long talk with Matt back in the day, him crying like a little baby because he was sure it could have been him, given other circumstances. Blind loyalty is something Courtney and him seem to share.

“Was Maxie upset?”

“He was not. He was… worried about me.”

Even that stuck-up nerd has some sweetness deep down, it seems. Archie knows better, probably. The thought makes her purse her lips, a little disgusted. She doesn’t want to think about Archie and Maxie in romantic situations, thanks.

“Of course he was worried. He cares about you, like Archie cares about us.”

And Courtney is looking at her again, her index finger touching her own lips, like in doubt.

“You… do not address your leader in a very respectful fashion.”

“Nah, we have known each other since we were kids. He is like an annoying big brother.”

“I see…”

Shelly realises, Team Magma lacks the closeness Team Aqua has. They care about each other, yes, but there is always an emotional distance between them, with the pretension of professionality. It must be lonely, she thinks.

“You’re a good person, Team Aqua Admin Shelly.”

The statement surprises her, and she can feel her heart drumming against her ears. That was cute as fuck.

“Just Shelly, please. And, what’s my percentage of goodness, if I may ask?”

Courtney has a tiny smile on her beautiful face.

“I’m… I’m still not sure. I must investigate further.”

Shelly feels her face hot, and she swears it’s not just because of the sun. 

“Su… Sure.”

Totally nailed it, she thinks, her smile nervous as Courtney looks at her near the eyes for the first time.


End file.
